


Jealousy Is Not a Good Color

by theRavensdesk



Series: Cecil and Carlos are Adorable and i suck at titles [7]
Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: Awkward Carlos, Cecil likes giving presents, M/M, People should use their words
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-03
Updated: 2015-04-03
Packaged: 2018-03-20 23:53:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3669705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theRavensdesk/pseuds/theRavensdesk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cecil and Carlos have very different ideas about what constitutes an appropriate just because gift.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jealousy Is Not a Good Color

Carlos Velazquez was not typically a jealous man. He genuinely believed that, overall, the world balanced out and people got what they deserved. So when someone got what they wanted, whether it was a date or a position in a grad program or an approval for a grant application, he did his best to be genuinely happy for them and remind himself that as long as he kept working hard and doing his best then his time would come. That being said, Carlos was deeply, gut-wrenchingly, bone achingly jealous of Cecil and his new tablet. They had both been talking about getting tablets in order to help them get around the ban on paper and writing utensils. If it had just been a matter of paying the money and ordering the device online, then it wouldn’t have been an issue. But this was Night Vale, and of course things weren’t that simple. Every month each person received a fixed amount of coupons, which could be used to import items from outside of the city. It would take at least six months to save up enough coupons to afford a tablet. Cecil had been saving up at least some of his rations for the past couple of months, and if he had simply saved up enough to afford a tablet, then Carlos was sure that he wouldn’t have had an issue with it. But Cecil had just come home with it one day because station management had decided that it would be beneficial for him to have one and had thus given it to him.

Carlos knew that it was illogical. Cecil really needed a tablet, and having one made his life infinitely easier. Still, it just didn’t seem fair that Cecil could just be given one and Carlos had to scrimp and save. He kept those thoughts to himself, though, because he didn’t want his own bitterness to dampen his friend’s excitement. And really, it was no one’s fault but his own that he kept using all of his rations on buying complete seasons of _Stargate:SG 1_ and a Netflix subscription.

Most weekdays, unless station management was in a mood or there was some experiment that really couldn’t be left alone, Carlos and Cecil met up for lunch — sometimes they went out and sometimes they just packed their own food and walked over to Mission Grove Park. Today, they had agreed to meet at the Moonlight diner; Carlos was, unsurprisingly, running late. When he pulled into the parking lot, he saw Cecil’s old truck sitting quietly in a corner of the lot and the man himself sitting alone in a booth by the front window. He hurried inside, hoping that he didn’t look quite as flustered as he felt.

Cecil’s back was to the door and he didn’t look up when it opened. He was utterly engrossed in his new tablet, and Carlos ruthlessly squashed the pang of jealousy he felt at that sight. He dropped a quick kiss to his temple before sliding into his side of the booth.

“Hello love,” he said, smiling brightly. “Have you been waiting long?”

Cecil beamed at him, his face lighting up. “Not at all; I haven’t even gotten a menu yet.” He powered off his tablet and set it aside, which was gratifying in a way that made the scientist question what exactly he was jealous about.

“Good, good,” he said, relaxing a bit. “I’ve somehow managed to live here for over a year and not figured out how long it takes to get from my lab to here. I really don’t mean to make you wait.”

He nodded, looking a bit indulgent. “I know you don’t, but I really haven’t been waiting long. And even if I had, I am more than capable of entertaining myself for a few minutes. And you are getting better at it, which counts for something in my completely metaphorical book.”

Carlos’ reply was cut off by the arrival of their waiter with their menus. The conversation shifted to what they were going to order, and Carlos let himself be nudged into ordering soup and salad instead of something heavier; it wouldn’t have been his first choice, but it made Cecil happy and it really didn’t hurt for him to start eating a bit better. Cecil ordered something similar, although with a more Night Valean twist that the scientist did well to ignore. As they waited for their food to arrive, Cecil chattered happily about what he had been doing that morning, like finding new cat videos and training the new intern. Carlos laughed at all the right places but mostly just basked in his partner’s presence.

Cecil was very obviously lingering over his food, and it was starting to make Carlos nervous. The scientist was describing the various experiments that his lab was running; this was normally something the broadcaster was interested in, but this time he was distinctly distracted. Carlos let his story trail off, not wanting to bore his companion.

Cecil shifted nervously and cleared his throat. “Um, I uh, got you something. I hope you like it.”

“I’m sure that I will,” he promised, wondering why his friend was so nervous. “You have impeccable taste.”

He nodded, forcing a smile as he went to dig in his bag, pulling out a thin box, which he handed to Carlos. His nervousness was really starting to rub off, and it didn’t really make sense; Cecil really enjoyed giving gifts — probably more than Carlos liked receiving them — and he hadn’t really been anxious since the first couple of times he had surprised his partner with some trinket or another. He opened the box, and his heart rate picked up in response to his partner’s obvious anxiety.

Carlos’ breath caught in his throat and it felt like the entire world went on mute; his scalp felt like it was burning, and his mind felt completely blank. He distantly recognized that Cecil was still sitting across the table, still looking pale and nervous, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to engage. He just kept staring down at the now open box and the shiny tablet that was nestled inside. He knew that he had to say something, but he felt like he really couldn’t think.

“I, uh, I can’t accept this,” he finally stammered, tearing his eyes away from the box and looking up at his companion.

Cecil’s face fell, his expression absolutely crushed. “What? Why? Is it the wrong kind? I thought that this was the one you were looking at, but I guess I could try to exchange it.”

“It’s not that” he said, reaching across the table for Cecil’s hand, wanting to reassure him. “It’s perfect, but it’s too much. You shouldn’t spend this much money on me, and that’s not even taking into account all the rations you used.”

The other man’s expression lifted a bit, hope flickering in his eyes. “Oh don’t worry about that. I got a discount on it because I used the station credit card. And I had been saving those credits for a tablet anyway, so it’s not like I had been planning on getting anything else with them.”

“But they’re still yours,” he protested, desperate to be understood. “You should spend them on things that you want, not on me.”

He sighed, sounding very nearly exasperated. “But I _want_ to spend them on you.” He paused before heaving another sigh and cutting off his friend’s response. “I really don’t have time to argue with you right now; I have to get back to work.”

Carlos nodded, feeling defeated and guilty about it. “Yeah, alright. Of course.”

He quickly gathered all of his things and stood up, hesitating just a bit. “You’re still going to come over after my show, right?”

“Of course,” he replied, reaching out to squeeze his hand. “Why wouldn’t I?”

He gave a relieved smile and shrugged sheepishly. “Well, I’ll see you later then.” He leaned down for a quick kiss before flitting out to his truck. Carlos took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, unsure of where exactly his day had gone off the rails.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Carlos simply let himself in to Cecil’s house like he usually did, not having bothered with knocking for a while. He made his way back to Cecil’s bedroom, trying to listen for the sounds of his partner in the shower; everything was quiet, though, and he found Cecil laying on his stomach, his back bare and his pajama pants slung low on his hips. He was engrossed in his tablet but still looked up and offered his friend a smile.

Cecil finished up what he was doing while Carlos stripped down to just his boxers and tee shirt; he pushed it aside when Carlos climbed up on the bed to sit by his hip, flopping over onto his back to look up at him. Carlos leaned down for a kiss, and after they separated, he sat back up, putting a bit of distance between them. The silence wasn’t quite uncomfortable, but it wasn’t really anything else either, and Cecil had to force himself not to fidget.

After a few minutes he took a deep breath and decided that it was up to him to start the conversation. “Carlos, are you mad at me?”

“What?” He asked, startled out of his thoughts. “No, of course not. Why would I be angry?”

Cecil shrugged, feeling sheepish. “I don’t know; you seemed really upset at lunch, and I’m not really sure why.”

“I know,” Carlos replied, sighing heavily. “But I’m not upset with you, not really.”

He nodded, feeling very slightly relieved. “But I don’t understand why you’re upset at all. You’re usually happy when I get you things; I just wanted to make you happy. Why should this be any different than anything else I get you?”

“Because you normally get me socks, Cecil,” he exclaimed. “That’s very different than spending hundreds of dollars! I don’t want you to waste your money on me.”

He glared, feeling almost offended. “I’m not wasting my money! You need it for work, and I _want_ to help you with that! It’s my money; I should be allowed to spend it however I want. Why are you making such a big deal of this?”

“Because I don’t want you to think I’m using you,” he blurted too quickly for him to really think about what he was saying and refusing to make eye contact. “This is a really big thing to just give someone, and it’s something that I can’t buy for myself. I’m afraid that you’ll think using you; I don’t want you to resent me.”

He nodded, looking hopeful and vaguely triumphant. “Oh Carlos, I won’t resent you; how could I? You didn’t ask me to buy things for you; I want to get you things.”

“That’s how it is now, but there’s no guarantee that that’s how it will be later,” Carlos said, feeling miserable.

The broadcaster seemed to see that there was light at the end of the tunnel and planned his next words accordingly. “Would it make you feel better if we reached some sort of compromise? Perhaps you could pay me back for the cost of the tablet, and my gift to you will just be the import rations. Isn’t that more reasonable than attempting to return or exchange a perfectly good piece of imported technology? And I really did just have those rations lying around, and you know what the city council has to say about hoarding.”

Carlos hesitated. He did know what the city had to say about hoarding (at least, he did in theory; the public service announcement had been released in a long forgotten language that no human should ever translate, but the message had still been remarkably clear for all that it made his ears bleed), and Cecil’s suggestion did sound very reasonable; still, this was by far the best relationship he had ever had, and it would be a shame to ruin it based on something so stupid as an unequal balance of gift giving. He knew that he wasn’t the easiest man in the world to date by a long shot, and he’d had more than one promising relationship burst into flames because his partner thought (with reasonable justification) that he was giving more to the relationship than his science-obsessed boyfriend. As he was running through the probability of various outcomes of this scenario he had the startlingly clear thought that perhaps conducting a relationship shouldn’t feel quite so much like planning a battle strategy. But then again, this was Night Vale, and a decent battle strategy was necessary for grocery shopping, so perhaps it was just par for the course in this town.

Finally, he sighed and nodded jerkily. “That sounds… reasonable.” He didn’t manage to get out his thank you before Cecil launched himself across the bed, throwing his arms around his neck and rocking him backwards. The scientist chuckled and pressed a lingering kiss to his boyfriend’s hair (which really was the more objectively—scientifically—amazing of the couple). “Thank you Cecil, really. It’s a very lovely gift.”

“Really?” Cecil’s whole face lit up in a way that had absolutely nothing to do with possessing a superior battle strategy. “I wasn’t sure that it was the right model. I mean, I talked to your SSP Officer, and they assured me that this was the one that you’ve had your eye on, but I couldn’t really be sure without checking your internet browser history, and we had that long talk about privacy, so I thought that you’d like it better if I didn’t do that. So, I wasn’t really sure if this was the one…”

Carlos cut off his babbling with a long kiss. “It’s perfect Cece, really. And thank you for leaving my browser history alone; I really do appreciate it.” He kissed him again, and they melted into each other in a thankfully non-literal way (that had certainly made for an interesting Thursday evening). Carlos pressed Cecil back into the mattress and deepened their kiss even further, thinking that they were long overdue for a very heavy make-out session at the very, very least considering the emotional turmoil over the last few days of guilt-ridden jealousy and stressful gift rejections. Unfortunately Cecil seemed to have other plans because after about thirty very promising seconds he propelled himself into a sitting position and then scrambled to the side of the bed so that he could retrieve Carlos’ still boxed tablet from where it had been strategically placed beneath the bed.

He thrust it into his boyfriend’s hands excitedly. “Here, you’re probably dying to get your hands on this.”

Carlos thought but didn’t mention that just then he was dying to get his hands on something else entirely.

Cecil continued without pausing for breath. “I know that you like to adjust the settings of all your equipment so that they’re the most scientifically useful, and I certainly don’t want to come between you and _science_ …”

That was patently untrue, Carlos thought; Cecil very much wanted to come between him and science on a multitude of often inconvenient—if completely justifiable—occasions.

“…It would be a shame if I didn’t let you get acquainted with a gift that _I_ gave you. And I want you to make sure that you _really_ like it before it’s too late to make an exchange.”

Carlos carefully set the tablet on the night stand and was proud of himself when he only felt the barest of pangs at not powering it up immediately. “Cecil, that can wait until morning. I have more important things on my mind just now.

Cecil’s expression shifted, becoming less exuberant and more contented, and he met Carlos for another kiss, this time staying for the duration.


End file.
